The International Crimes Tribunal Bangladesh [5] (ICTB) on Oct. 1 sentenced Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury [6], a member of parliament for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party [7] (BNP), to death for war crimes [8] committed during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War [9]. Chowdhury is the first member of the BNP to stand trial [10] for war crimes under the tribunal set up by the Awami League [11]-led government in 2010. He was found guilty on nine of 23 charges stemming from accusations regarding his role in war crimes committed by pro-Pakistan militias. Chowdhury is expected to appeal his conviction in the Supreme Court.
Bangladesh has suffered in recent months from a wave of violent protests over war crimes convictions against leaders of the Jamaat-e-Islami [12] (JI) party. The Supreme Court of Bangladesh [13] last month sentenced [14] Abdul Quader Mollah, assistant secretary general of the Islamist party JI, to death. This overturned a February ruling by the ICTB, which sentenced Mollah to life in prison [15] for crimes committed during the 1971 war. In July, Ali Ahsan Mojaheed was found guilty of five charges [16] by the ICTB, including those of kidnapping and killing a journalist and a number of other people during the war. Also in July, Ghulam Azam [17], chief of JI in Bangladesh until 2000, was found guilty by the ICTB of five charges of planning, conspiracy, incitement, complicity and murder during the war.
From Jurist [18], Oct. 1. Used with permission.
